Welcome to the Hog Blog, a blog chronicling minor-league baseball in the Lehigh Valley. Tom Housenick, The Morning Call's IronPigs beat writer, has been at The Morning Call since 2008. In a previous lifetime, he was at Lackawanna County Stadium in Moosic talking with future Phillies Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard, among many others.
He’ll now be spending his summers in search of who the Phillies are hoping to be the next Chase Utley and Cole Hamels plus any outfielder who catch and hit. What he really hopes to find are the next Mariano Rivera, Todd Helton and Jim Thome --- great human beings who happened to be great at this sport.
He spent the last five years covering Colonial League football, college basketball and high school track & field.

Former IronPig closer Scott Mathieson will get some early work for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic this week in Phoenix.

Canadian manager Ernie Whitt will use Mathieson behind starter Shawn Hill in Friday's game against italy.

With a mandatory four-day rest period for any pitcher who throws more than 50 pitches in a game, Whitt hopes to limit his pitchers to 45 pitches -- which, as IronPigs fans might remember, could mean Mathieson migth only throw two innings or less on Friday.

Potential IronPigs center fielder and leadoff hitter Tyson Gillies will fill those roles for Team Canada as well, while Whitt will have Phillippe Aumont in the back end of his bullpen.

Back to Mathieson -- he had a Phillies Triple-A record 26 saves for the IronPigs in 2010 and was up and down between the Philies and Triple-A in 2011. The hard-throwing right-hander, who overcame two Tommy John surguries to return to the mound, was then granted his release to sign with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Central League.

With the Giants Mathieson, who pitched parts of three seasons with the Phillies, was 2-0 with 10 saves and a 1.71 ERA in 40 appearances, helping the team win its 22nd Japanese World Series title since 1950.

(Oh, by the way, remember John Bowker, the minor leaguer the Phillies traded for in 2011 to "bolster" their bench down the stretch instead of calling up Brandon Moss? Bowker then proceeded to go hitless in 13 at-bats with the Phils. Well, he hit a sizzing .196 in 69 games for the Giants.)

Here's the link to a Canadian Press story on Mathieson's first season overseas.